Kazakh National Clothing – an Important and Inseparable Attribute of Kazakh Culture

Abstract

National clothing is an important cultural asset, as it reflects the history, lifestyle, and worldview of a particular people. In this context, traditional Kazakh clothing is an integral symbol of the culture and spiritual identity of our people. In this scientific article, Kazakh national clothing is examined and analysed from an ethnocultural perspective. The primary sources used are the works of Turkologist A.I. Levshin, Lieutenant D. Gladyshev, and surveyor I. Muravin, a Russian researcher who described the history of the Kazakhs, their spiritual life and material culture, including the characteristics of national clothing, in the 18th century, as well as materials by Polish artist B. Zaleski. In addition, the study draws on the works of domestic ethnographers and scholars such as A.Kh. Margulan, I.V. Zakharova, R.D. Khojayeva, R.Sh. Kukashev, N.A. Alimbay, B.S. Kakabayev, writer S.M. Mukanov, and other researchers who studied types of Kazakh national clothing. As evidence that some elements of national costume have been used in traditional Kazakh culture since ancient times, the article cites examples from the poetic heritage of the 19th c. Kazakh poet Makhambet Otemisuly. The article discusses in detail how the ancient Kazakhs made various types of clothing from yarn obtained from the wool of domestic animals: shawls, scarves, sleeveless jackets, shapans, kepeshi (quilted robes), mittens, socks, etc. And from the tanned hides of livestock, they sewed outerwear and footwear, such as tunics, caftans, camsoles, and other items. It is also emphasised that the wealthy and noble classes of Kazakh society used the skins of wild animals and birds – swans, loons, wolves, foxes, beavers, otters, martens, sables, and minks – to make particularly valuable headwear and outerwear. Clothes were also decorated and lined with expensive fabrics such as manat, velvet, cloth, mauyt (woollen fabric), satin, crepe, brocade, etc. Fabrics such as torgyn, dyuria, shagi, leylek, batiste, patsaiy, susima, satin, shayi, supy, etc. were used for sewing dresses and other items of clothing. Traditional types of Kazakh clothing are classified in the article into four main groups: headwear, outerwear, underwear, and footwear, with detailed descriptions of the characteristics of each group. Photographic documents are provided as illustrative material, including images of representatives of the 4th delegation of Kazakhs from the Orenburg region in ceremonial national costumes, taken during their audience with the Emperor of the Russian Empire in St. Petersburg in 1860. Photographs and descriptions of a number of costumes from the collections of the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan are also presented. In addition, the article explains some of the concepts and terms related to the names of traditional Kazakh clothing items.